Sierra Leone: Ebola Trial Begins

Researchers began vaccinating volunteers in Sierra Leone with an experimental Ebola vaccine in a study officially begun on Monday. The trial, the third to begin in the West African countries hardest hit by Ebola, is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Sierra Leone’s Health Ministry and the University of Sierra Leone’s College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences. Scientists aim to enroll 6,000 health workers. The vaccine, rVSV-EBOV, licensed by Merck and NewLink Genetics, has also undergone testing in Liberia, Guinea, the United States and other countries. Earlier research showed that the vaccine is protective in nonhuman primates, but it has not yet been proved to prevent Ebola in humans. The epidemic is declining in Sierra Leone, which on Monday reported two new cases.